Energy National Contact Points reviewed
Problems of communication and a lack of experience among National Contact Points (NCPs) for the Energy theme of the EU Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) should soon become history thanks to the EU-funded C-energy project. Scientists in Italy led the one-year project; they explored how difficulties with energy NCPs can be resolved. They noted that there were three main problems, the first being a lack of 'uniform high-level energy NCPs services' across Europe. Secondly, they noted the existence of 'new NCPs with little or no experience due to the rapid expansion in recent years of FP-associated countries'. And finally, they highlighted a 'lack of connection among energy NCPs through transnational exchange of experiences and dissemination of good practices'. They believe their research as part of the C-energy project will lay the foundations to tackle these problems. Among their recommendations, the scientists insisted that training sessions for energy NCPs needed to be organised and that less experienced NCPs needed to have the opportunity to visit more experienced colleagues.
